Cultural practices and herbal remedies in the context of infertility: A global health concern

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Funding

The study receives no extramural funding.

Authors’ contributions

Saurabh RamBihariLal Shrivastava contributed to the conception or design and drafting of the work, approval of the final version of the manuscript, and agreed for all aspects of the work. Prateek Sudhakar Bobhate contributed to the literature review, revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content, approval of the final version of the manuscript, and agreed for all aspects of the work.

Publisher’s Note

The Publisher of the Journal remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

References

[1] World Health Organization. Infertility - Key facts; 2024. [Online] Available from:https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/infertility [Accessed 1 June 2025].

[2] Liang Y, Huang J, Zhao Q, Mo H, Su Z, Feng S, et al. Global, regional, and national prevalence and trends of infertility among individuals of reproductive age (15-49 years) from 1990 to 2021, with projections to Infertility and cultural attributes 2040. Hum Reprod 2025; 40(3):529-544.

[3] Boddu V, Narasimhan H. Placating Kin: Rituals and Infertility. Oriental Anthropol 2023; 23:71-87.

[4] Kuug AK, James S, Sihaam JB. Exploring the cultural perspectives and implications of infertility among couples in the Talensi and Nabdam Districts of the upper east region of Ghana. Contracept Reprod Med 2023; 8(1):28.

[5] Akbaribazm M, Goodarzi N, Rahimi M. Female infertility and herbal medicine: An overview of the new findings. Food Sci Nutr 2021; 9(10):5869-5882.

[6] Lans C, Taylor-Swanson L, Westfall R. Herbal fertility treatments used in North America from colonial times to 1900, and their potential for improving the success rate of assisted reproductive technology. Reprod Biomed Soc Online 2018; 5:60-81.

[7] Liao YH, Lin JG, Lin CC, Tsai CC, Lai HL, Li TC. Traditional Chinese medicine treatment associated with female infertility in Taiwan: A population-based case-control study. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2020; 2020:3951741.

[8] Sagheb Ray Shirazi M, Salarkarimi F, Moghadasi F, Mahmoudikohani F, Tajik F, Bastani Nejad Z. Infertility prevention and health promotion: The role of nurses in public health initiatives. Galen Med J 2024; 13:e3534.

[9] Martins MV, Koert E, Sylvest R, Maeda E, Moura-Ramos M, Hammarberg K, et al. Fertility education: Recommendations for developing and implementing tools to improve fertility literacy. Hum Reprod 2024; 39(2):293-302.

[10] Shahid MN, Afzal HS, Farooq B, Yousaf MR, Ijaz MR, Shafqat TA, et al. A systematic review on the effectiveness of herbal interventions for the treatment of male infertility. Front Physiol 2022; 13:930676.